New Jersey

Overweight and obesity have tremendous consequences on our nation's health and economy. Both are linked to a number of chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers. Most American communities are characterized by unhealthy options when it comes to diet and physical activity. We need public health approaches that make healthy options easy, affordable, and available for all Americans.

CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) currently funds 25 states to address the problems of obesity and other chronic diseases through statewide efforts with multiple partners.  The program's primary focus is to create policy and environmental changes to increase: physical activity, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and breastfeeding; and to decrease: television viewing, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, and consumption of high-energy dense foods (high calorie/low nutrient foods). New Jersey has received funding for this program since 2008.

The Burden of Obesity in New Jersey

New Jersey's estimated 2007 total population is roughly 8.7 million, with 6.6 million adults. Of those adults, approximately 38% are considered overweight and another 24% are considered obese, according to 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. Problems are also seen in factors related to obesity and other chronic diseases.

• Approximately one quarter of New Jersey adults report no leisure time physical activity in the past month.
• Only 28% eat fruits and vegetables at least five times a day.

Also, the National Immunization Survey shows that New Jersey is not meeting four of the five Healthy People 2010 goals for breastfeeding based on children born in 2005.

The problem is not limited to adults alone. Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System data from 2006 show that New Jersey has the highest reported rate of obesity in the nation for low-income children ages 2-5. Fifteen percent of New Jersey youth (9th–12th grades) are overweight, and another 11% are obese, according to 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data.

• Only one third of youth in these grade levels are meeting current physical activity recommendation levels.
• Only 17% eat fruits and vegetables five or more times a day.
• Thirty-six percent watch three or more hours of television each day.

Obesity also affects the state's economy. In New Jersey, the medical costs associated with adult obesity were $2.3 billion in 2003 dollars. 

What is New Jersey Doing about Obesity?

The New Jersey legislature established the New Jersey Obesity Prevention Task Force, which developed and released the New Jersey Obesity Action Plan in 2006. New Jersey then received CDC funding for obesity prevention in 2008. The early period of CDC funding has been spent creating “A NEW Jersey…Shaping the Way We Live!” plan, which includes building state capacity, enhancing and expanding state partnerships, and developing implementation strategies. 

New Jersey has existing partnerships that will be useful as the state plan is created. They include the following:

• The New Jersey Department of Transportation promotes physical activity through a policy to incorporate bike and pedestrian issues in all units of the department, a statewide pedestrian safety campaign, and funding for the Safe Routes to Schools program which encourages children to walk to school and makes it safer for them to do so.
• The Department of Health and Senior Services works to address physical activity through the New Jersey Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The Council hosts a bi-annual Leaders' Academy for Healthy Community Development and distributes mini-grants in the amount of $100,000 to communities to start local projects focused on policy and environmental change.
• The Department of Health and Senior Services and Department of Education jointly receive CDC funding from the Division of Adolescent and School Health to address obesity and tobacco control for school-aged youth. The two CDC funded programs will work cooperatively for greater impact.

Through these activities, New Jersey and CDC are addressing obesity by creating places where New Jersey residents can make healthy choices about nutrition and physical activity.

For more information:
Karin A. Mille, RD, MS
Project Coordinator
New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
Telephone: 609-292-4043
Fax: 609-292-3580
E-mail: karin.mille@doh.state.nj.us

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